Yume Nikkiish WIP
by The Drake Raider
Summary: A backstory for Yume Nikki, as I see it. It's part one of a serial, and the M rating is due to later chapters content. The first few are much milder, but the series will have gory and disturbing content near the end.
1. Chapter 1  Arrival

I:

_This is not home._ This thought rushed through Madotsuki's head as she climbed down the ramp of the 747. This world, filled with strange people speaking strange tongues, was the last place on earth she wanted to be. Now, for a 12-year-old girl, this thought would not be surprising, especially when moving to a foreign land, but nonetheless, this was where her father had been sent for his job. _Why can't you just visit that country?_ She had asked, _Because I would have to do it all the time, and I don't want to give up my family for a job. This way, I get to keep the job, and we get to stay together._ It was fortunate that he spoke the language quite fluently, or they would have been completely lost.

Madi had left all her friends, her teachers from her old school, her kind old motherly piano tutor, everyone. She had loved the chocolate milk and cookies that she and her sister enjoyed, after practicing for an hour on their instruments, teasing each other about their talents. _No, Madi, you cannot TOUCH my flute! I'd need to clean it all over again!_ her sister would chide her. _But Monoe, I just want to look at it! Besides, you can't even play it well!_ Now, of course, it is always uncalled for to make fun of another's talent, even when it is you seventeen-year-old sister, who had started playing it only a year previously, and couldn't make any other tunes than _Ode to Joy_ and _Greensleeves_, and only the former well. But, as always, Monoe had a retort ready, always smiling, _Oh, Madi, you should talk! There is nothing like a well-played-piano, and yours is NOTHING like a well-played-piano!_

Then, of course, a piece of cookie would fly across the table, and very soon, the elderly tutor would have to bustle out of the house to avoid getting hit by flying crumbs. The two girls would run out of cookie, and, downing their milk, race up the stairs to bed, playfully yanking each other's hair all the way up stairs.

But all that had changed with the move, and there was no getting it back. All she could look forward to would be that the job would send her father back to the homeland, or that she would adapt to this new country. She huddled closer to her sister as the family of four trundled through the airport. Once again, as she had done so very many times from the time they had left their old house, she tugged on her sister's coat sleeve, getting her attention.

"What is it, Madi?"

"Monoe, do you suppose we'll be alright here?"

"Hey, Madi! Cheer up! It'll be fine! We already have a whole floor of the building rented out, so we never have to worry about other people walking through, and we have a rich father who actually tries to spend time with his daughters, and loving mother with another little sibling on the way! We'll have fun here! We'll find new tutors, and get new friends in a new school!"

It was an answer Madi had heard a million times, and, by the time they reached the building where they were to live, she had heard it at least a thousand more. Monoe never tired of giving her an optimistic answer with her bright smile, even as tears glistened in her own eyes. Madi could see that Monoe felt no better about this new land than she.

They carried their luggage to the elevator, and took it to the floor on which they stayed. Madi carried her suitcase down the hall, to the door marked "Madotsuki", which she opened gingerly. Inside was a bed, a desk, a television, a video game console, and, wonder of wonders, a door to a balcony overlooking the city. But it didn't have the same feel as home. Madi felt tears running full-bore down her cheeks as she dragged her suitcase to the dresser, and collapsed on the bed. She hadn't cried this hard since they first left the large house in the woods, a house which had been home since birth. A house she may never see again.

_ I'll go back someday, and see it, just once, when I've grown up, _she promised herself, and thought of all it's stairways, secret passageways, and cellars where she and Monoe had played hide-and-go-seek so very many times. She remembered her game of pretending to be a cat, clawing and meowing at anything that came near, which of course made everyone gather round. It had started when she started school, to try and scare away the strangers, but it made her part of the group, and she quickly made friends of all of them as the "Koneko-Girl". Remembering this long-forgotten time, she dropped off to sleep for the first night in her new home.


	2. Chapter 2  School

II.

The days of unpacking passed quickly, and a week later, her mother brought up the idea of school. This was not fondly received by either of the girls, for an inability to speak the language would greatly effect the ability to make friends. Even worse, they still missed their old friends from their homeland. However, there was nothing to be said, as Mother quickly recruited a translator to aid them in classwork, and signed them up for the best school in the area. Education had always been a value of hers.

Which was why Madi and Monoe found themselves huddled together, walking along the street to the local bus stop, wrapped in their scarves and hats, hiding from the wind in swaddling winter clothes. They caught the bus, and approximately an hour later, arrived at the school. After checking in to their respective classes, Madi found herself alone, being introduced to the ranks of strangers with strange tongues. Her translator, a tall, thin man who looked native-American, and walked with a hunch, guided her to her spot.

She looked around from her spot, at the two girls next to her. On her left there was a girl approximately her height, with the pigtails, but a school uniform, a sad expression, and black hair. On the right, a short, squat girl with a dyed blond pony-tail, and a green outfit. She and Madi were the only ones in the classroom not wearing the black-and-white uniform. Madi was wearing her usual purple skirt and red skirt, her brown hair in the same pigtails as the girl on the left.

The lesson passed slowly, but after awhile, the lunch cue occurred, signaling a rush for the door. Madi followed slowly, and the girl from the left dropped back to her, and spoke, surprisingly, in Madi's own tongue.

"Hello, Madotsuki, I'm Monoko. I learned your language privately a few years ago. It's nice to have someone else who knows it. Do you want to be friends?"

This strangely matter-of-fact monolog reminiscent of a kindergarten class caught Madi of guard. But she decided manners were the best option.

"That would be delightful. You can call me Madi, okay? It's shorter."

"Thank you, Madi. Call me Mono Here, follow me, I'll show you how our cafeteria works."

"Why, thank you, Monoko. It's much more pleasant to talk to you than that scary man who was hired for me."

This was, of course, overheard by the slightly frightening Mister Akai, following behind shortly in case of need. The man was quite kindly at heart, and decided his skills were only needed in the classroom. Therefore he left the girls, and headed for the staff lounge.

The girls went through the cafeteria, and sat in the corner of the room to eat. As they ate, the girl with dyed blond hair came over to them and sat down. Madi noticed Monoko's expression change from sad to slightly scared. The blond girl pointed at herself, and stated one word. "Poniko". Monoko turned to Madi, and said "That's Poniko... she's the best student in class, and everyone obeys her."

Poniko looked at Monoko and spoke a few strange sentences, and turned back to Madi. Monoko's expression went from scared to terrified. "She wants me to translate for her. You are to listen to everything she says."

A long string of rules and regulations of the school's social circles flowed out of Poniko, translated for Madi by Monoko. It was quite annoying, and Madi, already fed up with the new land, interrupted and told Monoko a few choice words for Poniko. Poniko, however, apparently already knew what those words meant, and went from governing to conniptional. She swung her tray across the table, and hit Monoko in the stomach. Madi, surprised at the reaction, and concerned for Monoko, pushed her out of the way and turned to Poniko. She grabbed the tray in the next swing, and tossed it aside. Poniko saw the anger in her eyes, and backed away, surprised at her disarmament. She said a few more lines, and returned to the group.

Monoko stumbled to her feet, and hastily tried and failed to wipe off a blood trail from her mouth before Madi saw it.

"She says she'll get you back for that."

"I don't care."

The two girls went to the nurse's office for Monoko to recover. Madi looked in her eyes and seen she had won a friend. She remembered Poniko's face, and knew she had won an enemy. She would not tell Monoe about this.


	3. Chapter 3  Lessons

III.

The rest of the week passed uneventfully, as Poniko avoided her consistently. It was the week after that when the tutelage started anew. Mother had decided that the girls' instrument skills were sadly lacking, and had researched tutors in the area until she found one that spoke their language. Her scouring paid off, and she found one in time for the tutelage to start on the beginning of the next school week.

After school, Madi and Monoe were introduced to their new tutor. He was a short, thin man, with dark hair and glasses. He spoke with a high, squeaky voice that contributed to the overall appearance of weakness. He introduced himself as "Seccom Masada, master of music".

"Mister Masada, what makes you the master of music?" Madi wanted to know.

"Well, it has much to do with being able to play any song on any instrument perfectly after hearing or reading it once."

"Can you really do that, Mister Masada?"

"Well, would I be much of a tutor if I couldn't?"

Mister Masada winked at Monoe, and mussed up Madi's hair. As he emerged completely through the door, he threw a smile at the girls' mother, and took his coat off. "Well, now, Girls, are we going to get to lessons, or are we going to just stand around gawking at each other? I really must know, how skilled are you currently? I need to know where to begin."

"Okay, Mister Masada, the piano is through here." Monoe guided him through the floor to the sitting room. "It's old and shabby, but it's in tune. Should I get my flute?"

"Why, yes, indeed, Monoe. Please do, if only one of you charming girls plays the piano. If that's you, Madi, could you give me a demonstration while your sister gets her instrument?"

Monoe left for her room, and Madi sat at the piano and started playing. When Monoe returned, she sat in the corner of the room with their mother, listening to Madi's recital. Madi played away her emotions and her fears, her sadness at the move and the insecurity of the new country. She played until her fingers hurt. She finished with a tear running down her cheek. She turned towards her mother and sister, and was shocked to find them both quietly crying. Even Masada looked mildly moved.

As the room recovered, Masada turned slowly toward the mother, addressing her in a quiet voice, much deeper, and less squeaky, then before. "Madam, I believe you appear to have a genius among you. Who taught her?"

"The neighborhood piano teacher. She taught everyone. I didn't know Madi was this good, myself."

"Neither did I," said Monoe, "I've never heard her play this much or this well."

"Well, if she's this good, I can't wait to hear how good her sister is. I believe genius runs in family." He gestured that Monoe should start playing. The older sister, however, was unsure of her talents, and did not hesitate to make this known. "Masada-sensei, I don't think I should. After that, it would be anticlimactic."

"Nonsense. You must demonstrate your skills, if I am to teach you. If you doubt your talent, remember, it is the weak that must be made stronger, not the mighty."

"Very well." Monoe stood up, and set herself for her own recital. "I'll play for you now, but be ready for disappointment."

"Oh, go on, Monoe, you're not _terrible_, you know," Madi cheered her on.

Unfortunately, she was wrong. Monoe WAS terrible. It made such a racket, Madi feared that some of the birds outside on the deck might have fallen to their deaths in their haste to escape the horror of the flute playing. The girls' mother had her hands over her own ears, and Masada-sensei was wincing slightly.

He, once more, was the first to recover. "Well, I can say one thing, Monoe. If that was genuine, then we shall see a rather lot of each other."

"Sorry, Masada-sensei, I never could play well."

"Well, don't worry, it's quite all right. However, I need to get to my next appointment. Sorry, but I must leave you today. Same time tomorrow? Then, farewell."

Their mother nodded, and he left the room and picked up his coat, and departed. Madi was happy to have met him. He was a nice man, and a friendly one, if a bit hasty. She felt sorry for Monoe's embarrassment. But it was nearing suppertime, and her aching belly hastily drove this from her mind. She would worry about music tomorrow, for it was another day.


	4. Chapter 4  Poniko

IV.

After a week of instrumental tutoring, in which nothing happened, it began to go downhill. It started on Friday of that week. The school was working on a desert diorama, a depiction of Mexican civilization in recent years. Poniko had apparently planned her revenge.

Monoko and Madotsuki were placing the tiny figurines on the diorama. The teacher was not in the room, probably due to a bathroom break. It meant nothing to Madotsuki, in her inability to understand the language. Monoko had only bothered to translate the relevant parts. The diorama was nearing a conclusion, when a shrill yell came from the corner near Yucatan. "_!_" Poniko threw a ball of ice and slush across the room at Madi. However, Madi ducked at that moment to pick up a fallen figurine, and it hit Monoko in the face. The slush ran red down her cheeks. It took a moment to realize that Monoko was bleeding from her eye, where a rock in the snowball had struck her. It was obviously an intentional weapon aimed at Madi. Madi felt her rage break over her at witnessing this deliberate attempt at physical harm, and its collateral damage. She held it in, however, and shielded Monoko, guiding her to the exit. As she left, she ran into Akai outside the classroom. She showed him the eye, and he picked up Monoko without hesitation, carrying her swiftly towards the nurse's office.

At this critical moment, had Madi followed the tall red man carrying her friend, it would all have been fine, and none of the events would have followed. She made one mistake. She turned around, and caught sight of Poniko laughing, pointing at the blood and snow on the floor. The rage of witnessing the ill-treatment of her friend could be controlled no longer. She charged back into the classroom, jumping up onto the diorama, running across it, destroying her and Monoko's precious work. She grabbed Poniko around the neck, and threw her to the ground. Poniko's cronies surrounded the pair, grabbed the flailing Madi and threw her back on to the diorama. She kicked forwards, and knocked the somewhat smaller children back. Her hand came upon a figurine, and she threw it at the recovering Poniko.

Once again, she charged at Poniko, and grabbed her around the neck. She thrust her hand into Poniko's face, a single thought running through her head. _An eye for an eye... an eye for an eye…. an eye for an eye._ She gouged her hand into Poniko's eye, and pressed into the side of the socket. Poniko screamed in pain. Madi was undeterred. She kept squeezing, searching, rooting with her fingers. Blood and a transparent white paste were everywhere, running down her arm. She finally managed to squeeze past the orb, and, locating a single strand, she jabbed her nails in until it snapped. The eye came free in her hands. Poniko yelped once more, and fell to the ground moaning. Madi held the eye in the air, as a feeling of ecstasy ran through her mind. _Her friend had been avenged_. A hand grabbed her collar, but she no longer cared. The teacher dragged her out of the room, shrieking in her face, but she heard none of it. The teachers locked her in a closet, seeing no escape, to hold her in case of another outbreak, but she remained impassive. In fact, it was not until she was in her mother's vehicle, as she rode home facing discipline, that her mind began to work. Her mother's voice filtered back to her:

"The teacher didn't know about Monoko, none of the children told them. It wasn't until they carried Poniko to the nurse, and Akai told them the whole story, that they realized you hadn't just gone insane. I don't blame you for your rage. But still, please control yourself in the future. Just… never do anything like that again."


	5. Chapter 5  Monoko

V.

The next day, Saturday, Monoko was brought back from the emergency room. Her eye may or may not recover, they had said, but they could do no more for it, and all she really could do "would be to avoid using it until it stabilized". Poniko, they heard, was not as lucky. Her removed eye had been destroyed and could possibly result in total blindness of the other eye. Despite herself, Madi began to feel sorry for the child. Where it was true that she deserved it, it wasn't exactly if Madi had proved herself any better by becoming the executioner. It really was beyond her what had overcome her. The best she could say was that if the same happened to a friend again, she would retaliate every bit as strongly.

The family went over to Monoko's house to pay a visit to the confined girl, and express their hopes for a swift recovery. With the doctor's approval, they were allowed to take her on a drive. They went to a local restaurant; the first Madi had visited since the day after they had arrived.

"Thank you for bringing me with you," Monoko was saying, "And thank you for not punishing Madi for the incident."

"Oh, she isn't escaping punishment, but it wasn't as if she didn't have a good excuse," Madi's father returned, "I mean, it wasn't GOOD, per say, but who of us can honestly say we would act any better. At least she _tried_ to do what's right. Those of us who may not have followed her course of action would have not done so to avoid punishment, not to avoid wrongdoing. She stood up for her friend in a very volatile, but convincing manner. How she did what she did was wrong, but we don't want to discourage integrity."

"At least you let her come with us!" Monoko responded, "She's really the first friend I've ever had. And thanks for bringing me with, I've never been to a restaurant this snazzy before."

Madi's parents both blushed and Madi herself felt a twinge of pity for Monoko, as well as a surge of joy that she had benefited her friend so well. The group spent the rest of the meal telling bad jokes, laughing and hugging each other. Nobody at all had a sense of foreboding. No one could have known the outcome. As the sun slipped beyond the mountains in the distance, Monoe reminded the parents of the holy day the next day, and the family and Monoko packed up. They paid their bill, and left the restaurant. They piled into the car, with the girls next to each other in the back, Madi squeezed between Monoe and Monoko. The girls buckled, and the parents got in the front of the car. They drove out happily into the night, heading to Monoko's house. Before long, only Madi and her parents were still awake.

It came from nowhere, a black car with a sleeping girl at the wheel. Madi got a glimpse of the driver, who couldn't have been older than Monoe. Her face was very content in sleep. As a scream escaped her throat, her father started to turn evasively. The black car smashed into the driver's side door, and threw them into a spin. It peeled off the side doors. Monoko's belt snapped as the door ripped from the van. She was flung into the night. The girls' father was already still, and the car smashed into a tree on the other side. The wooden branches plunged into the passenger side windows, spraying glass across the girls, and thrusting through their mother.

It seemed like an eternity, but the car came to a halt in a few seconds. In a matter of minutes, an emergency crew was on the scene. They found the wreck, and helped Madi and Monoe to their feet. They were quietly rushed to a ambulance. But as they went, Madi saw two bodies. Their father had also fallen out, and been crushed by the black car. She saw it's driver sitting on the side of the street, shaking silently, probably with fear. And at her feet…

The body was barely recognizable. A hole in the head leaked a thick gray fluid, which pooled about. Both arms were smashed apart, bones sticking askew. Blood was everywhere about her. Tears started flowing down Madi's cheeks, and she broke free from the rescue workers. She rushed to the side of the body, hugging it to her. Even as more gray fluid poured across her shoulders, coming out of the cadaver's mouth, she still held it. The damaged eye was hanging limp, and it's fluid ran down the girl's cheeks.

The workers pulled Madi away, and Monoe grabbed her. The sisters sobbed into each other's shoulders, and they climbed aboard the ambulance. It started to leave, and Madi looked back out the window, as what had once been Monoko was loaded into a canvas bag. Monoe could not stop sobbing.

"I'm sorry, Madi…. She was…. Too young… and after her eye…. What happened to her eye…. And she found a friend…. I'm so sorry… God, I'm sorry…"

Madi was still crying, but with a much more stoic expression, the tears fell for her only friend, and her father, and her mother, and her sister. It was cruel, too cruel, that what may be the worst events of her life where yet to come. But the next week was not over yet.


	6. Chapter 6  Fate

VI.

After a trip to the hospital verified that the two sisters were only mildly scratched up, the authorities started to debate the girls' fate. Unfortunately, they were forced to sit out of a discussion that would change their lives. Monoe didn't care much, as she sat, huddled against the wall of the waiting room. Madi, however, had no intention of being left blind to fate. She went over to the door behind which the debaters debated. She pressed her ear against it, and listened to the debate within.

"…cannot be left alone," came a higher pitched voice, probably of the executor. He had been flown in from the old country on urgent to help with the estate of her father. He continued frantically: "They are two underage girls, and they cannot be left alone. There are all kinds of things that could happen in a country where they don't speak the language."

"I can keep an eye out for them. If they wanted, they would never know I followed them." Madi recognized this deep, calm voice as that of Akai. "I am very skilled at avoiding detection, as you know. I can keep them from harm."

"That still does not change that they are underage! And what about schooling, and tutoring? How will those be taken care of?"

"You are forgetting that this country is more geared for self-reliance than your own has become. Moreover, the older sister will turn eighteen in just over a month. After that, she can make the decisions."

"And the schooling? The tutoring? What will we do about that?"

"They can be continued as they were. I see no reason to continue to tear this family's life apart."

"The older one, maybe! But the little one, Madi? What about that incident with the classmate, Poniko? Do you honestly think that her life can continue as normal after a thing like that happened? I hear she clawed the eye all the way out and stood there holding it in her hand!"

"Poniko has been removed from that location. The incident was a morally excusable attack. Poniko performed an action than may have had resulted in the permanent blindness of Madotsuki's only friend, and was showing no remorse for the action. Can you really blame her for the reaction? Can you say you would have acted differently and still held conscience?"

"Well, no, but how do you know it really happened? She could have lied! Even so, how else could this girl react? It may have been an outburst relating to the situation that caused her father's inattentiveness!"

At this, Akai's voice took on a dangerous tone.

"Did you really just suggest that it was her father who caused the accident? That the girl may have caused it indirectly? We have the perpetrator, who, by the way, feels as upset by the whole situation as the two girls in the room next door. The girl who caused it fell asleep at the wheel. There is no way in hell you can blame that on the other driver. To make it worse, you just accused your client of manslaughter and suicide, when the reports show that he did everything in his power to avoid it."

"Now don't you put words in my mouth, you great Red Injun! You don't have any right to accuse me of that!"

Madi let out an involuntary gasp at this outburst. She doubted, however, that anyone heard it. At least, until Akai's voice lost the edge, and took a weary tone.

"I will let the 'Red Injun' comment slide, Sir, if only for the sake of the girl listening at the door. Madi, you may come in. You have already heard enough that there is no point hiding the rest from you."

Madi was quite astounded that he had heard her. Or perhaps he hadn't, but simply knew she would be there. She couldn't be sure, but it didn't really matter. She opened the door and stepped inside. Akai greeted her with a soft smile, the other, a short, portly man with a bowler hat, was turning red as a beet.

"You see what I mean, Akai?" the man burst out," She can't be trusted, she can't trust us! She was clearly spying on our whole conversation. You can't argue that that shows self-restraint!"

"No, I suppose not. I will agree to a caretaker for the month until Monoe's birthday."

Madi opened her mouth to argue, but the Akai silently gestured her to remain quiet. _He must have an idea… _she thought. Akai, silent as ever, guided her back out of the room, and closed the door behind them.

"I was going to do all I could for your freedom," he began once they had crossed the room, "but spying on the private conversation probably broke that trust I might have built up. Clearly, asking you into the room, or notifying him of his presence was a mistake. I apologize. Though in the off chance you lost your temper, or made a mistake, perhaps I can work out a better result than we would have had if he had discovered your presence without my intervention. Now please, sit with your sister, and await my return. Do not attempt to interfere anymore, and no eavesdropping. Entertain yourselves until I finish. I'll do my best to work things out for you."

She nodded quietly, and he returned to the room across the hall. She looked at Monoe, who was starting to relax. She went over to her sister and the two played rock-paper-scissors. The two played this for a full half hour before Akai returned, and guided them out.

"Everything has been arranged to the best of my ability. You will have a caretaker, and please do not do anything that attracts negative attention until Monoe turns eighteen. I will be watching over you two, and be there if you call my name. You won't see me unless I choose, or you act extremely attentively. I will follow you both every moment you are outside the apartment, but this is in the off chance something Poniko planned occurs. She takes injury and embarrassment poorly, as you know, and her parents are much the same. They may aid her in retribution. It's not right, I know," he added as Madi looked befuddled, "But sometimes adults can be less mature than children. Keep your eyes open, I can't promise to save you from everything."

The girls nodded, and were silent on the rest of the trip home.


	7. Chapter 7 Uboa

VII.

The girls where introduced to their caretaker the next day. She was a severely dressed woman with a quick temper that reminded Madi of a bird. She thought of the way pigeons swarmed breadcrumbs every time the woman did something. It wasn't long before the girls discovered the woman's propensity for locking trouble-making young people in closets, and she started to greatly dislike her. They missed school Monday because of the caretaker's introduction, but in the evening, Seccom-Masada-sensei appeared. He notified Madi that her talent did not need immediate improval, and therefore she should take a walk about town.

Madi grabbed her rain gear and bike, seeing the gentle mist outside, and cycled off to the park. It was a large one, filled with benches and trees, with gentle lamplight. She stopped at a bench to think about her past few days. It wasn't long before she slipped off to sleep.

She awoke to a gentle whiteness. As her eyes grew accustomed to the light, she realized that it was snowing. She danced through the snow, happy at one beautiful thing her arrival in the new land. She saw other park-goers in the distance, talking cheerily, or fighting with snowballs. But Madi wanted to remain alone, so she headed off towards the train yards on the far side of the park. If she had been looking about, she may have seen a glint of yellow as a figure left the crowd to follow her.

She climbed inside one of the boxcars, shocked at how huge it was. She sat for a while inside, enjoying the feel. She imagined herself as an ice princess, alone in a castle. She left, and headed through the yards towards a block of concrete buildings with murals on the side. As she walked down the street atwixt the buildings, she enjoyed the colourful light of the neon walls. She loved the beauty of the city at night. _Maybe this country isn't such a bad place, after all. It's even cheering me up after the last few days!_ She frolicked through the crowds, humming happily. But the pursuing figure never lost pace, and Madi was totally oblivious to this danger.

The figure pulled some things out of its bag, one of which appeared to be a mask. It put this on, and broke into a run. As Madi started to circle, spinning in her joy, she caught sight of the figure. As it neared her, it threw a wad of dark material at her. Madi caught site of a crudely, childishly drawn mask, but got hit in the face by the foul-smelling matter before she could duck. As she fell, she heard a familiar cry: "UBOOOOOOAAAAA!"

She hit the ground hard, and bounced a bit before sitting up. Her face, she realized, was covered in feces. Apparently, this was part of Poniko's revenge. Poniko herself was closing fast, wearing the black-and-white mask. Its black hair, dark and vacant eyes, and faceless smile were towering over her. "AKAI!" she screamed, determined not to provide still more reason to be confined. A figure in a long coat broke the crowd. Pulling a rag out of its pocket, it closed in on the pair. Poniko realized what was happening, and dug in her purse again. She pulled out a gun, turned swiftly, and shot Akai twice in the chest. He collapsed as blood flowed out onto the snow. People started to scream and scatter from the trio. Akai writhed to a kneeling position, and Poniko closed the distance between them herself, blond ponytail flowing in the breeze. She shot him again, again and again, and Madi could do nothing. The blond-haired, masked demon charged up to Akai's shaking, writhing body, and shot him once in the head.

"No one interferes with my revenge, Savage. Die and stay that way."

She turned back to Madi, now on her feet, and pointed the gun at her. Madi could do nothing but turn and run. A shot echoed behind her, and struck the wall. She ran towards the subway entrance at the corner, and dashed down the stairs. She hid behind a pillar.

Poniko's voice echoed through the empty station, taunting her for her cowardice. "You just had to let him die, couldn't you? You can't save anyone, just strike back like a wounded animal when they get hurt. You are an animal. Not worth anything. Why your parents kept you, I don't know. I really can't understand. I'll kill you now, and put you out of your misery. Your ugly sister won't miss you, with that helpless, friendless Monoko gone, no one will. She got her brains splattered out good, didn't she?"

Something in Madi started to snap at this jab at Monoko. She stepped out from behind the pillar. Poniko raised the gun and pulled the trigger. But nothing happened. Poniko had used up all the ammunition against Akai, and now was helpless. Madi charged at her, and ripped off the mask on impact. Poniko's face was a mask of bandages. In fact, it was almost as if she didn't have one. Madi must have done much more damage than she thought back in her assault at school. She threw the smaller girl toward the wall, and smashed her against it. She hit her again and again. Poniko started to scream.

A train echoed in the tunnel, and roared towards the station. Madi stepped back from Poniko. The smaller girl slumped forward, but Madi let her fall. She picked up the girl's unconscious body, and threw it toward the tracks. Just then, the train ran through, crushing and shredding the helpless blond girl. Madi chuckled happily at the thought of such an evil person's demise. The station walls were stained red as Poniko's blood sprayed everywhere. But the train kept going into the darkness of the far tunnel.

An explosion sounded down the hole, and Madi realized Poniko might have had some other dangerous things in the bag. In a series of more explosions, she came to her senses, and the fear for the people in the train came over her. She ran down the tunnel toward the sound, and was horrified to see flames. A wheel of the train bounced past her. She finally heard the sirens in the street above, probably just arriving from the first gunshots. She realized that she would be wanted. Madi knew her decision must be quick, and made one. As the voices of police in foreign languages came down the tunnel, she slid into one of the sewer access vents, and ran.


	8. Chapter 8  Monoe

VIII.

She kept running down the sewer passageways, tilting towards where the girls' apartment was. She had long since lost the sounds of pursuit, but there were too may side-corridors she could have taken, they didn't want to waste their time chasing her. As they didn't yet know who she was, no one had thought to head her off.

It wasn't long before she reached the ladder leading out on the near side of the park, across the street from the apartment building. She climbed out, and dashed into the building. It was strangely silent. She started to have a sense of foreboding as she climbed the stairs. She didn't know what to expect, she began to wonder if they had figured out who she was after all, and were lying in wait. She mounted stair after stair, as the hair on the back of her neck stood up. In due time, she reached the top, where the lights were all out. The sound of soft sobbing filled her ears. _They must have figured it out,_ she thought, _And Monoe is crying because she doesn't want to believe that I killed Poniko. She doesn't know how to face it._ She decided that facing the truth would be best, so she stepped through the door, and faced the crying.

It was not what she had expected. Monoe was lying on the floor, huddled, her blouse torn open and her legs stained red. Madi rushed over to her, shock and surprise choking her up. She turned her older sister over. Monoe's face was a mass of bruises. Tears streaked down both cheeks, blood surrounded the corners of her mouth. Madi started to panic. "What happened, Monoe?" she asked urgently, "What happened to you? Did they get to you because of what I did?"

Monoe's voice was choked and forced, like it pained her to talk. "It wasn't anything you did... I'm glad you left when you did... don't open the closet."

Madi started to realize what happened, and her own eyes started to tear up. "It was Masada wasn't it? He did this to you?"

"...yes... him... never expected it... don't know what to do, now. Just don't look in the closet."

Monoe struggled to her feet, and stumbled across the room. "Madi," she started, "Be good."

The older sister reached Madi's room, crossed it slowly, limping from the pain. Madi's horror increased as she realized what Monoe was intending to do. She dashed across the room and covered the door to the balcony. Monoe grabbed her and pushed her aside. "Don't look in the closet, don't stop me, don't look... I can't live like this, not with what that man did to me. I feel like dirt... I feel worse than dirt."

Madi was easily shunted aside by her older sister, discovering how weakened she had been by her flight and climbing of the stairs. She grabbed at Monoe, but the older girl pushed her aside and slipped through the door, closing Madi inside. She stumbled towards the edge.

Madi pushed the door open, and charged across the balcony towards her sister. But Monoe was fast despite her pain, and vaulted over the railing. Madi ran forward, grabbing over the railing. But her sister was long-gone, and what she saw on the ground below made her turn away. Despite all the gore and mutilation she had seen recently, it was different when it was her own sister. The same sister that had told her to be optimistic, to be cheery, to never give up. The same one that always reassured her things would be fine. That sister had given up, was gone. Madi stumbled to her knees, retched on the ground. She vomited all over the balcony. The tears had stopped, but not because the lack of grief, but from the force of shock.

When her stomach was empty, she staggered back inside the building. She crossed to Monoe's room, and went through. She went over to the closet. When she opened the door, she found the bird-woman, the caretaker, inside. The woman was stripped and lynched, her chest torn open and guts hanging out. Her lower jaw was ripped off the face, and hanging limp from the head. Only the flesh held it on, the bones were obviously crushed.

Madi wondered if the woman had been killed as collateral damage, or simply to cause fright for Monoe. It was the sort of sick thing a man who would abuse her sister like that would do.

She had one more thought. Final vengeance. When Masada was dead, everyone she knew would be, so she could escape in peace. No one would care enough to come after her, everyone who ever had was already dead and gone. She felt she should be too, but she decided to keep living. If only to avenge her sister, she had to keep alive. She closed the closet, and went to her parents' room. White cloth had been draped everywhere, but the bed was stained red. The full extent of Masada's torture was clear. Madi went and grabbed a phone directory, determined to track him down. The abuses he had just perpetrated must be repaid.


	9. Chapter 9 Beginning

IX.

The hunt would be hard, that much was certain. Madi had only just opened the directory when she discovered that it was written in the foreign language. She would need to find an interpreter. She took it with her, and searched the rest of the room. She found a few knives her father kept, and a gun he never used. She packed them in her backpack and left the building.

Madi figured the best place to find a translator would be her school. She walked towards the bus stop, and stood there for ten minutes before she remembered that the bus would obviously not show up in the evening. So she walked down the street again, following its root. She remembered the route fairly well, as she had spent a lot of the time on that bus staring out the window.

Madi found her way there, but it took over an hour to reach it. She went straight to the principal's office. The principal summoned a translator as quickly as he could.

"What do you need?" he asked kindly. Obviously no one here had heard of the deaths yet. "I'd be happy to help."

"Not much," she responded, "I just need a translation. Can you locate Seccom Masada-sensei in this directory? He's my piano tutor, and I need to know where to find him."

"Sure. Do you want us to tell him you're coming?"

"No, thanks. I don't need to go now, but you've no doubt heard of my parent's deaths, and I may need to contact him in the future. They aren't around anymore to do that for me." She was struggling to hold back the tears at this thought, and the translator and principal noticed. The two's pity and concern became apparent in their faces.

"Don't worry, you can come to us if you need help."

"Thank you. If I do, I will. About that contact information?"

The translator showed her the information. Madi felt an odd sense of irony in the use to which she was going to put the information. She left the school with the address she needed, that was what mattered. Madi was happy in the prospect of catching the fiend responsible for her sister's death.

She returned to the apartment, much quicker now that she was sure on the route, and she gathered what else she would need. She searched every nook and cranny for currency, and she found a few more things that would be useful as weapons. She made sure she had extra ammunition for the gun, determined not to make the same mistake Poniko had. It was another few hours before she was finished with the apartment.

She departed the building again, determined not to return alive until Monoe had been avenged. She stooped over her sister's body, surprised that no one had yet discovered it. As a lone tear fell down her cheek, she stooped over her sister, and, reaching down, closed the dead girl's eyes, and gently folded her hands. She turned away from the body, and jogged off into the night.

She caught a bus to the part of the city where Masada lived. It took a few more hours, and it was past midnight when she reached the area. It was a desolate area, without color, and the houses were ramshackle, looking more like a camp then a neighborhood. She wormed her way through the crowd to Masada's flat. It was a very eccentric place, filled with street-lighting equipment. The flat was currently empty, but there were no signs that he had left for good, so she decided to await his return. She found a few sad-looking kittens out back. She took them inside, and slit each of there throats. It was not without guilt, but she felt she needed to repay Masada verbatim, and the cats appeared to be the only thing he cared about in the house. Maybe in the world. She searched the rest of the house, and found his vast music collection. She piled it all on his bed, then she rigged a lighting system to ignite the collection if the room were entered, then left it herself. One by one, she hung the kittens from the lighting equipment. A stoplight here, a lamppost there. It wasn't long until she heard another bus. Or maybe it was, but so engaged in her work was she that she noticed nothing.

At the sound, she slipped off into a closet, and pulled one of the knives out of her backpack. She waited for about twenty minutes before she heard someone enter the building. Apparently he had taken a detour before his return. It was a stroke of luck, but she was happy it occurred.

The noises of the man's entrance into the building were followed by his footsteps throughout the flat. She tensed up when she heard a sharp intake of breath, obviously he had found the cats. A few more steps, and she heard a door open, followed by the woosh and crackling of fire. He had entered the music room. She pulled a cord she had attached to the lighting grid, and the man on the other side let out a yelp. The lights would flicker on shortly.

But by then, Masada had recovered his nerve. "Where are you? I know you're in here, there is no way this is a practical joke! Who are you? Wait, it has to be the genius. Did you find what happened to you sister, by any chance? Oh dear, she liked it, yes she did! She moaned in joy when she came!"

Madi forced herself to remain calm. It would not be long before he was close, and she had made sure she was hiding in the closet he stored his weapons. He would have to come here first. The steps neared, the flames rising to a crescendo. Obviously the man cared more for removing her than putting out the fire. His voice dimmed somewhat, as if he were facing the other direction. _So he doesn't know where I am. Good, I'm still alive._ She tensed up, and coiled for the strike. Suddenly the door flew open, and as she lunged forward, a crack of a baton of some sort fell across the back of her head, forcing her to the floor. Another stroke, and she was unconscious.

When she came to, she was strapped to the burned mattress. It was warm, but he had obviously put out the fire. Her backpack had been taken from her. His footsteps sounded outside. After a few minutes, they neared the room again. Obviously he had been checking up on her. When he entered the room, she saw he was nude, holding a pair of scissors.

"I'll put you through what I put her through, only worse, little Prick. You actually deserve it." His high voice had a happy pitch to it. "I'd like to watch you die myself. Did she die, by any chance? I didn't wait around to find out."

He knelt over her and started to cut open her sweater, the same way Monoe's shirt had been ripped. "Do you know how I found you? I knew I was dealing with a genius, and you would have obviously decided to hide in the one place I would have needed to enter unarmed. If you weren't doomed, I'd advise you to play chess more often. You should have realized I could anticipate your move."

Madi opened her mouth to speak, but he punched her in the face, slamming her against the bed. "No words from you, little Brat. Last thing I need is you screaming. By the way, I already drugged you, you won't be able to scream, or really talk all that loud. Doesn't mean I won't react if you try." At that moment, the situation started to change.

A siren filled the air, and Masada jumped, dropping the scissors on the bed. _Of course, they would know where to find me. I did just ask for directions, after all. They probably just either linked Poniko to me, or they found Monoe. More likely the first._ She slid her hand quickly to the scissors, and yanked them up her side. She severed both straps on that side. As she freed herself, she rolled over off the bed, just as Masada saw her moving. He reacted far too slowly. She saw her backpack against the wall, and jumped to it, opening it as she rolled. She grabbed the gun, and shot at Masada. If anything attracted the cops, that would. Masada collapsed as the bullet went through his upper leg, blood running down to the foot.

She pulled out the knife, and lunged into Masada. She stabbed him repeatadly between the legs, repaying the very instrument that he used against Monoe, and was trying to use on her. As she threw him on the bed, she drew the knife across Masada's gut. Blood spewed out, along with the sliding of his guts, organs she could not name. They spilled all over the bed. As he writhed in agony, she cut him from groin to neck, pulling out handfuls of his entrails, many of which were still attached, with her other hand. She finally struck him in the neck, slashing again and again. Her shredded sweater was stained with blood, and her hands and face dripped with it. As his twitching ceased, and she heard shouting at the door, she dropped the knife, and jumped out the open window. She rolled across the yard, and ran through the maze of buildings. No one saw her leave, she was home free.

She arrived back in her apartment shortly after first light, and changed her clothes. A new sweater, with a landscape picture on the front, and a dark skirt. She knew the police would track her down soon, but she no longer cared. Masada was dead, and she was complete. She wanted rest, but was too energetic from the fight yet. So she sat at her desk, waiting to fall asleep.


End file.
